


Gravbakkjen

by LemonCakeDesign



Series: Almost (Sweet Music) [6]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Brother-Sister Relationships, Family Feels, Fluff, Native Miqo'te, Singing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-07
Updated: 2019-11-07
Packaged: 2021-01-24 19:55:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21343843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LemonCakeDesign/pseuds/LemonCakeDesign
Summary: When I eventually lie in the groundStill I will live in the wordsOf the verses that I chantAnd the tunes which carryPike teaches Elphina a song.
Relationships: Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV) & Original Character(s)
Series: Almost (Sweet Music) [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1535039
Kudos: 4





	Gravbakkjen

Pike is the only family Elphina’s ever known.

She was only two when Mama and Papa died, and all she remembers is gentle hands on her brow and a woman singing softly to her as she fades into sleep. Pike tells her stories, of course, but they’re just  _ stories _ , they aren’t people to her. 

So Pike is all she has, and she misses him dearly when he’s gone. Doctor Halfbrook (Stephen, he says to call him, and she does when she remembers) is nice, treats her well, but he’s not Pike.

Pike visits rarely in the beginning. She knows a little about what he’s doing, joining the military, and from what her friends tell her, the military sends people all over the world, so she starts to understand. Elphina begs Pike for stories when he visits, and he indulges her.

Pike tells the best stories of anyone, as far as Elphina’s concerned. Better than Jacobi, who tells her stories and swears up and down that they’re true, until his brother Eric knocks him on the head and says he’s just telling lies. Pike  _ never _ lies, not to Elphina, and he tells her about the wonderful places he visits, places where the sky stretches on forever, bright blue, where the sea (the sea!) turns and crests white at the tips. He tells her about strange creatures, blue serpents that  _ fly _ , or toads that snare their prey with their tongues.

Best of all are the songs, though. She loves listening to Pike sing, and he brings back whatever local songs he’s learned. Whenever it’s in a different language, he’ll tell her the story of it later, and she turns over the words in her mind, trying to connect the sounds to the story. 

On her eight birthday, Pike visits, and he gets to visit for a long time. She overhears him say to Doctor Halfbrook that he’s in training for something, but Pike’s the best at everything so she can’t imagine what he’s training for.

“What do you want for your birthday, Elphie?” Pike asks her, when he’s settled his bag in her room. “Anything you want.”

Elphina thinks for a moment. Temara just got a doll, but Elphina’s never been one for dolls as much. She likes books, but she has plenty of those. Then a thought occurs to her, and she smiles. “A song, but not just any one. A special one, and I want you to teach me how to sing it.”

Pike smiles brightly. “A special song, huh? Let me think on that one, so I can get you the most special song I know.”

Elphina nods, and when she goes to bed that night, she watches Pike stare out the window until she falls asleep.

Pike goes the next day, to his mysterious training. And though he still smiles and plays with her when he gets back, she can tell he’s tired. Elphina gives him her biggest hug, and she can feel some of the tiredness wash away from his shoulders.

She tries not to eavesdrop on him and Stephen when they’re in the kitchen washing the dishes. Elphina is supposed to be working on her homework, but she’s finished it already and she’s bored, so she listens.

“It’s nice to have ye here, lad,” Stephen says. Pike responds, but she can’t quite make out what he says. Elphina gets out of her chair and edges closer to the kitchen.

“Aye, she’s a bright one, innit she?” Elphina can hear the smile in his voice. “Been havin’ trouble keepin’ up wit her some days. She tears through books like most her age go through candy. Jus’ like her father.”

Pike laughs a little. “I remember. He always had his nose in a book.”

“Aye, that he did.” A clink as Stephen sets a plate down, and a pause where all Elphina hears is the water in the faucet. “How long ye in fer, then?”

“Not quite sure. The training I’m in, they don’t tell us much about what we’re doing. And I don’t ask very many questions. My life’s hard enough as it is, being the only Miqo’te in the unit.”

“What unit ye in, anyway? Don’t think ye said.”

A beat, then Pike speaks. “A bow-mans unit. I’ll be contracted out to whatever ground forces need me.”

“Won’ need much training, then. Though I spose they don’ wantcha showin’ up their highborn types, so they’ll put you through your paces.” Elphina peeks around the doorway then, and she sees Stephen clap a wet, soapy hand on Pike’s shoulder. “Show ‘em what-for, aye?”

Pike nods, but Elphina sees a somewhat troubled look on his face. His eyes shift towards her and he smiles. “Done your homework already, Elphie?”

Elphina slips fully into the doorway, then. “Yep!”

“Wow, you’re even smarter than me!” Pike swoops in on her and picks her up, and she giggles. “Say, I think I owe someone a song. Can you finish up without me, Stephen?”

Stephen waves a hand lazily. “Go on, you two.”

Pike sets Elphina on the ground, and leads her to her bedroom. He looks under her bed for a moment. “I’m sure I left this here…” 

“Left what?”

Pike makes a noise of triumph and pulls out a box. “This,” he says, and turns to her, holding it out. She opens the box and her eyes widen at the instrument inside. “This was Mama’s. It’s called a kraviklyr. I was going to teach you a singing song, but I thought it would be more fun for me to teach you how to play this. That way, when I’m gone, you can practice it, and show me how you’re getting better. That okay with you?”

Elphina touches the wood of the lyre gently. “Yeah,” she breathes out. “Yeah, that’s okay.”

Pike smiles brightly. “Great!” He motions to the box, and Elphina hands it to him. “Here, let me go over the basics with you.”

Pike shows her a simple pattern of plucking, and Elphina repeats it back carefully to him. The sound is clear and beautiful, and though her movements are somewhat clumsy, Elphina takes to it quickly. They repeat this back and forth for a time, until Elphina starts to wane, her fingers sore from the strings. She holds her hand out to her brother to show him so.

“Mm, this happens when you’re new,” Pike says, though the guilt is plain on his face. “Sorry, Elphie, I forget that you don’t have calluses like me.”

Elphie shrugs. “It’s okay.” It is, because she’s with Pike, and he would never let anything hurt her badly. “How come I’ve never heard you play this before?”

Her brother smiles softly, sadly, as he considers the instrument in his hands. “Mama taught me when I was your age. When she died, it was...too hard for me, to go back to playing it. But you reminded me of it, when you asked me to teach you a song yesterday. Speaking of which-” And he adjusts the kraviklyr. “My most special song, right? Let me play it for you.”

Elphina’s eyes grow wide, and she sits herself on the floor in front of him expectantly. Pike laughs a little at her eagerness, and then he considers the kraviklyr, plucking experimentally, before nodding and beginning.

_ Hear the sound _

_ Weeping tunes _

_ Here the black snake I ride _

_ Over steps laden with sorrow _

_ I am on my way _

_ To my mother's embrace _

_ To my rest _

_ For the earth is my mother _

_ And my grave _

At the first refrain, Elphina’s eyes widen. Their native language was one Pike rarely spoke, though he had taught her what he knew. It was both odd and comforting to hear him singing it now.

_ Tunes they sound _

_ Some are weeping _

_ And twofold is burn of wounds _

_ Which no other sees _

_ Hear the sound _

_ Weeping tunes _

_ Hear the sound _

Pike’s voice is clear and deep, the plucking on the kraviklyr simple but beautiful, and Elphina can only sit in raptured silence as his voice washes over her. Pike’s voice jumps an octave as he transitions into the third refrain.

_ _

_ When I eventually lie in the ground _

_ Still I will live in the words _

_ Of the verses that I chant _

_ And the tunes which carry _

_ _

_ I yet live _

_ I yet live _

_ I yet live _

The song finishes with a few more plucked notes, and then Pike looks down on Elphina. She stares at him for a few moments, before she stands and crushes Pike into a hug. “That was so pretty!” she says, slipping into Miqo’te. “I want to do that!”

Pike hugs her back tightly. “Then I’ll teach you,” he replies in Miqo’te as well. “But tomorrow. It’s getting late.”

Elphina pulls back from the hug and pouts at him, the effect of which is ruined by a yawn shortly after. Pike laughs a little, and he sets the kraviklyr back into its box gently before standing. 

Pike tucks Elphina into her bed, and carefully slides the box under it. She yawns again, snuggling into the blankets despite her protests of not being tired. “Pikey,” she says, using a nickname for him she’d long since thought she’d abandoned, being too old for the childish name, “Can you sing it to me again? Just your voice. I don’t wanna forget overnight.”

  
Pike laughs quietly as he nods. The last thing she remembers before sleep overtakes her is him singing, while he strokes her hair. 

**Author's Note:**

> The song Pike sings, and the title, are Gravbakkjen, by Wardruna. Amazing band if you like Norwegian folk music and traditional instruments. Gravbakkjen translates to Burial Hill I believe? My Norwegian is a bit poor so I'm trusting the internet to translate for me today.
> 
> The kraviklyr is a Norwegian version of a lyre, to put it simply. Since bards use lyres in game, it seemed a natural choice. On that note, I base native Miqo'te on Norwegian and thus Pike's culture on Norway for a very specific reason: I'm Norwegian myself. With no _specific_ basis in text to go from, I figured I was way less likely to be accidentally super racist if I stuck with my own culture. Although since I'm like four or five generations removed from Norway itself I might still mess something up, but I feel more equipped to research and pull on that background. 
> 
> I've wanted to do something with Pike and Elphina for a while, but I had to get through Little Words first, obviously, and other plot bunnies struck me first. Timeline wise, this is right after Pike gets pulled into the spy operations, and the training he's going through is for that. He's just about to turn 16 I believe? And Elphina is 8, as stated in story. I might do something about the spy training at some point, we'll see.


End file.
